If it's supposed to be a secret, why is he running around yelling it for all to hear?

By the way, I am returning after a long absence. Looooooong absence. Warm hellos to anyone here who may remember me from oh, around 2003-2004? On the old forum? I don't even remember my handle from then. A couple of my puzzles slipped into one of Paul's books one year. Great fun. I recognize Nimue and a few others. I remember woubit, berorean... Anyway, hi! (I couldn't find an 'introduce yourself' thread here.)

Was this something you witnessed? In person? On television? Some other media? Does it have to do with popular culture? A song? A movie? A television show? Was he promoting a product? A service? Does this have to do with love/romance? Is the secret scandalous?

Was this something you witnessed? yes In person? yes On television? Some other media? Does it have to do with popular culture? A song? A movie? A television show? Was he promoting a product? A service? Does this have to do with love/romance? Is the secret scandalous?

Did this occur in a public setting? In a private one? Your home? Someone's home? A private business or office? A vehicle? Was there a logical reason for his yelling? Was he impaired in some way? Mental illness? Drunk?

Did this occur in a public setting? yesIn a private one? no Your home? yesish Someone's home? A private business or office? A vehicle? no, no, noWas there a logical reason for his yelling? YESWas he impaired in some way? Mental illness? Drunk? no, no, no

Did this occur in a public setting? yesIn a private one? no Your home? yesish Someone's home? A private business or office? A vehicle? no, no, noWas there a logical reason for his yelling? YESWas he impaired in some way? Mental illness? Drunk? no, no, no

Was he trying to get someone's attention? Was there any danger? Was he telling his own secret? Someone else's? Is this a secret I could have? If I had it, would I be upset that this person was yelling it out like that? If you had been in the same situation as this man, would you have acted in the same manner? Would most people have done the same? Have most people been in that situation? Was there a lot of other noise (traffic, weather, etc.)? Was that the reason for his yelling? Was this in your neighborhood? On your street? In your yard? On a sidewalk? Elsewhere on your property?

Can people hear him yelling? Do they now know of the secret? Is he telling people the secret to protect them? Or someone else? Is the man part of an organization? or other group of people? Would any people be angry at him for yelling out the secret? Is it his job to yell out the secret?

CiaobellaWas he trying to get someone's attention? yesWas there any danger? DOYD. For our purposes, not really.Was he telling his own secret? YES Someone else's? noIs this a secret I could have? please clarify If I had it, would I be upset that this person was yelling it out like that? maybe, for some value of 'upset'If you had been in the same situation as this man, would you have acted in the same manner?

first, let's say he IS me. Second, to answer these questions precisely, I need to provide what will amount to a hint. In his situation, yes, I would have yelled what he yelled (because I did ;-)

Would most people have done the same? yes, yelled what he yelled Have most people been in that situation? many, many people have, and they would yell something analogous.Was there a lot of other noise (traffic, weather, etc.)? irr Was that the reason for his yelling? noWas this in your neighborhood? YES On your street? YES In your yard? YES On a sidewalk? YES Elsewhere on your property? YES

QuovynyteCan people hear him yelling? yes Do they now know of the secret? can you be more precise?Is he telling people the secret to protect them? FA Or someone else? FAIs the man part of an organization? no or other group of people? well....Would any people be angry at him for yelling out the secret? possibleIs it his job to yell out the secret? is he paid to do it? no

Were you told the secret? noWas it supposed to be a secret in the first place? yope -- depending in part on what "it" isDid you think it was? I knew it was a secret, I knew it was supposed to be a secret. However...

Was this a special occasion? Was the man (you) angry? sad? afraid? excited? nervous? embarrassed? irritated? ill? in pain? naked? in trouble? Did the secret involve: his home? his profession? his body? his family? his property/ belongings? his feelings? an accident? religion? sexuality? something he viewed as positive? negative? neutral? Did he intend to yell out the secret as opposed to simply stating it? To tell someone specific? To tell everyone? To tell any one person? Did he feel embarrassed afterward? relieved?

CiaobellaWas this a special occasion? noWas the man (you) angry? maybe a bit. not really. sad? no afraid? again possible, but for the sake of argument, no excited? no nervous? no embarrassed? no... irritated? YES ill? no in pain? no naked? no in trouble? no

Did the secret involve: his home? YES his profession? no his body? no his family? no his property/belongings? yesish his feelings? no an accident? no religion? no sexuality? no something he viewed as positive? negative? neutral? this is closest

Did he intend to yell out the secret as opposed to simply stating it? yes

To tell someone specific? To tell everyone? To tell any one person? NO for all three, or FA

Did he feel embarrassed afterward? this relieved?

Shezis he yelling because he's unhappy? yesish drunk? in pain? no to these

Hi, remember me? Bodo is the only one still active who has been here longer than me! But neither of us are as active as before. I come back every few months. Bodo comes back every few years. I cannot believe that his kid is old enough for scouts!

Are you going to tell us all the secret in the spioler? Will this do any further damage, assuming it was damaging to reveal the secret in the first place? Is it your own secret or something that somebody else told you? Are you irritated by it because it compels you to do something? Or because it's painful to know?

Hi, remember me? Bodo is the only one still active who has been here longer than me! But neither of us are as active as before. I come back every few months. Bodo comes back every few years. I cannot believe that his kid is old enough for scouts!I do! Hi Lynne. Bodo... wow. Time does fly.

Are you going to tell us all the secret in the spioler? I will probably change it slightly for the puzzle. Good question. Will this do any further damage, assuming it was damaging to reveal the secret in the first place? Even if I told the secret intact in the spioler, it is very unlikely to cause any problem here. Again, good question. Is it your own secret yes or something that somebody else told you? no Are you irritated by it FA because it compels you to do something? Or because it's painful to know?

Is he angry about the secret? NO Sad? no Is he yelling to vent his feelings? NO Is he yelling to someone? YES (with a qualified -ish) At someone? yope, irr to the extent yelling "at" can be combined with yelling "to"

So the secret concerns your house? Are you shouting from inside your property? Relevant? Are there other dogs on your street? Relevant? Does the secret concern your family? Or anyone else? Is your dog's appearance/breed/behaviour relevant?

Shezis the name of your dog also a password? yes for your computer? phone? bank?

************ SPOILER ***************

When we had FiOS installed, we had to pick a new password for the home wifi, and the router software defaulted to a 5-character password. In addition, we have a lot of teens coming and going, and they all need to log in to the wifi. So it had to be easy to remember and pass along -- "soft" security, to be sure. Our dog's name has five characters, so that was that.

I didn't realize the weakness of this plan until the day I was yelling after Jonas (not his real name :-) in front of the very neighbors who are within range of the wifi.

(A variation of this puzzle could have had me yelling the name somewhere else -- on vacation, at a park -- and NOT worrying about giving away a secret.)

Thanks for a good puzzle! A word of advice: For one of my passwords, I used the name of a cat I had as a child. Even my spouse is unlikely to know this, and I'm not going to be yelling it. If you want to use a pet's name, make it a dead one!

Thanks! To be fair, I'm not that uncomfortable with this, since the chance any of my immediate neighbors is a stone cold hacker is pretty slim. And if someone just pirates our signal, we'll notice, especially if it's high bandwidth usage. Then we can change the password to something less...... yellable ;-)